He might as well have yodeled for how much it derails me. “What? What’s for Nick?”
Elethior motions at the bag. “The food.”
“Is for Nick.”
“Yes.”
“My fox familiar.Nick.”
“Despite the absurdity of naming your familiar something so mundane,yes. That Nick. How many other Nicks do you and I have in common?”
“We don’t even havethatNick in common because he’smyfamiliar. Why are you buying my familiar food?”
Another awkward shift. “I figured it would serve as an apology to him for the way I reacted to his presence.” Elethior’s face gets the teensiest bit self-aggrandizing. “It’s not his fault his owner is a stubborn asshole who thinks invisibility isfunny.”
“I told you.” I sit on the edge of my desk. “Helikesbeing invisible. An ex-girlfriend got pissed at me and cursed him, but joke’s on her, because he wasthrilled. Despite your low opinion of me, I am capableof at leastbasicspell work, so of course I undid it. But there’s nothing in the world more heartbreaking than a depressed fox, and it fucked with our wizard-familiar bond. So I put the curse back on him; he’s happy, his invisibility has the added benefit of freaking people out, and everyone wins.”
Elethior’s lips part in disgust. “Your ex-girlfriend cursed your familiar?”
“Hence theexpart. Apparently I can be a workaholic and she felt I neglected her for my junior year course load. But let’s loop back—you bought my familiar food?”
His blush deepens. “I looked into what foxes eat and bought a few things for the next time you summon him. Again, as an apology.”
“You bought my familiar food.” My lips curve into a grin. “You bought Nicksnacks.”
Elethior translates my smile with an exasperated huff. “Laugh it up, Walsh.” He trudges back to his desk. “You’ve found yet another source of control over me. I’ve got a soft spot for animals, what can I say? Fuck off.”
“What’s your familiar?” The question’s out of me like a rock from a slingshot. I’m smiling still and my chest’s all tight and tingly and I think maybe it’s some kind of cardiac event? Surely it’s not from Elethior. Buying snacks. For Nick.
Elethior toys with a pen, seated at his desk, his back to me again.
“A desert rosy boa,” he says. “Named Paeris.” He looks back at me. “You know, a nameworthyof a familiar.”
His expression becomes a challenge, daring me to mock him, a Tourael, for having a snake familiar. The jabs create themselves.
But I kick the toe of my Converse against the tile. “Zootopia.”
“Excuse me?”
“Zootopia. The movie? That’s where his name’s from. Nick, the fox.”
Elethior’s confused gaze widens until he snorts.
I throw my eyes skyward. “Don’t—”
“You named your familiar after a character in a children’s movie?” He laughs again, rubbing the skin over his nose. “You would. Of course you would.”
“I’m leaving yoursnakebusiness alone, so you don’t get to mock me for Nick’s name. Besides, I was drunk, and it seemed fitting.”
Elethior chuckles one more time but waves his hand in surrender. “Fine. It’s added to our truce.”
His smile is too soft.
I knot the sleeves of Orok’s hoodie around my hands.
“Good,” I say.
“Good,” he repeats.
